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Deborahjeong Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

Subjunctive or not

If it weren't for your help, we could not win the game

I know the sentence above is subjunctive mood, which means the act of winning has not occurred yet but possibly in the future. BUT how about the sentence below

But for your help, we could not win a victory.

With this sentence, the act of winning has not occurred either? OR it just means that "they already won with your help"

Please help me understand its mood. Thanks

  

Top answer

In both cases, "we could not win" implies that the act of winning has not yet occurred. If it had already occurred then we would say "we could not have won". However, I'm not convinced that your sentences are the clearest ways of expressing the idea.

— GPY

  • In both cases, "we could not win" implies that the act of winning has not yet occurred.
  • If it had already occurred then we would say "we could not have won".
  • However, I'm not convinced that your sentences are the clearest ways of expressing the idea.
  • They seem more like textbook exercises than sentences that people would actually use in real life.
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3 Answers
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In both cases, "we could not win" implies that the act of winning has not yet occurred. If it had already occurred then we would say "we could not have won". However, I'm not convinced that your sentences are the clearest ways of expressing the idea. They seem more like textbook exercises than sentences that people would actually use in real life.

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Both of the sentences given are not right. The first sentence should be one of the following:


If it wasn't for your help, we could not have won the game.


If it wasn't for your help, we could not win a game.


If it wasn't for your help, we would have no chance of winning the game.


The second sentence should be one of the following (but for your help

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But for (reason) is not used very much in everyday English. It is found more in literature.
Still, the past is more common:

But for your help, we could not have won. = We won, but It would have been impossible to do that without your help.
Without your help, we could not have won. (This is what people usually say.)

The present is rare:

But for your help, we could

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